Centrist - Nonpartisan
After reading this charter, please feel free to discuss major changes on the Talk page. We believe that a middle ground compromise can be found for all matters regarding government control of the economy and personal behavior. Sometimes government intervention neccesary but sometimes, the government can be excessively obstrusive. The important thing is for society to keep an open mind and work together to find practical compromises to problems. The Tax Code A very simple yet progressive tax code is a fundamental component of any successful democracy. Each dependent and individual covered under the file gets a 10,000 tax exemption. Thus a family of four making $40,000 would pay nothing in taxes. The only other tax exemptions would be on all income spent on tuition for educational institutions and on all income donated to carefully monitored nonprofit institutions. For each dollar above this, the individuals pay 30% on the revenue in taxes for up to $100,000 For each dollar above this, the individuals pay 45% in taxes. Corporate taxes would also follow a similar simple progressive code that gives an advantage to small business and exempts all revenue spent on employee salaries from the tax code in order to encourage the spending of additional revenue on hiring new employees and expanding the company. This makes sense as the salaries are already being taxed through the income tax. In addition, state taxes, local taxes, sales taxes and all other taxes will no longer be collected. States will be granted funding equivalent to the average income tax collected for every two individuals who reside in the state to spend of infrastructure, law enforcement and education. Keeping the tax code this simple eliminates excess spending on bueracracy, makes tax evasion very difficult and decreases the benefits that lobbyists can provide to specific interest groups. Federal Spending A primary perogative is to prevent the accumilation of large amounts of national debt. To accomplish this, a law should be considered to prevent any incumbant from running for reelection if they fail to make up for any defecit spending over the past four years by the election year. The Legal System There are numerous problems with all current legal systems that are best illustrated here In order to bring the legal system as close to the ideal as possible, a very well defined classification system would be employed that is slightly more specific than the ones employed by a few western countries. For example, murder (the violation of another individual's most fundamental right) would have a well defined classification system similar to the one outlined below. Accidental - When the guilty party clearly had no intention of hurting anyone and didn't do anything that he could have known would put someone in risk of being seriously harmed. This would almost never lead to time in jail. Neglegent - When the guilty party had no intention of harming anyone but knowingly acted in a manner that increased the probability that they may seriously harm or kill another individual. Examples: Falling asleep while driving an automobile by not pulling over when they felt tired. Driving an automobile at speeds in excess of what is generally considered safe. Gross Neglegence - Example: Knowingly pointing a loaded gun at the victim without intending for the gun to go off. This would be a relatively serious crime. Neglectful - When the guilty party neglects to help someone that they accidentally or neglegently hurt. Example: Running away from the scene of an accident leading to the victim's death. This would be a very serious charge. Intentional - The guilty party had a definate intent to harm someone. This would be the most serious charge and would carry the heaviest punishment. Defensive - The guilty party kills an individual believing that they or another person will likely be very seriously injured or killed by the individual if they do not act. This would almost never lead to punishment if there were no reasonable alternatives under the circumstances. Aggravated - The guilty party loses their temper without too significant a reason and seriously harms another person leading to their death. This would be a serious charge as well. Reasonably Aggravated - The guilty party loses their temper for a very understandable and sympathetic reason. This would not carry nearly as heavy a punishment. Example: A father harming the person who raped his daughter. There are numerous advantages to using such a system. Actions that were intended to physically harm or psychologically traumatize another individual would be punished significantly more heavily than those that were not. Violations of another individual's rights would be very clearly defined not just based on the right that was violated but also based on the reason for which this right was violated in order to ensure that the punishment for these violations always fits the crime. Each of these classifications would carry a significantly more substantial punishment if the intent to kill can be demonstrated. Furthermore, if the victim isn't killed but could have been, the guilty party would be charged with a crime based on the category above that the crime describes with the prefix "Attempted" attached to it and would face a slighly less severe punishment than had they succeded. The mental state and psychological development of the guilty party at the time of act as well as the amount of time that the individual had to decide to act in the manner that they did would be fundamentally key factors in determining the appropriate punishment. Thus human fallibility and momentary lapses either of judgment or sanity would be accounted for and lead to significantly less severe punishments. Guilt or innocence are to be determined by all-volunteer juries who hae the common-law right to judge not only the facts but also the justice of the law.